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Plaza de España Fountain

Built in the wake of a pirate attack, another lovely Renaissance landmark at the heart of the historic centre

Elegantly spouting off

In 1588, not long after the old Santa Cruz cabildo (city hall) was torched by French privateer François Le Clerc (aka Jambe de Bois, or Pegleg), a lovely four-spout fountain was built on one side of the diminished Plaza de España. This monument is crowned by a triangular pediment supported by a simple pedestal and adorned with various heraldic images of the island - prominent among them the coat of ams of the Archangel Michael and the governor of the day, Jerónimo Salazar. For many years this Renaissance-style fountain was also instrumental in supplying water to the city, although as the centuries went by it eventually became purely ornamental.